4 Reasons We All Love June
The most wonderful time of the year if you’re like me, and you live for the sunlight, warm weather, and fewer clothes.
No more putting on a jacket before you leave the house or making sure you have a hat on ::sighs with relief::
This list may serve as a reminder to enjoy the little things this month, moment to moment, day by day; because June goes by so quickly, I feel sometimes it ends before we realize it’s here…
Top reason? There’s more light (assuming you’re in the northern hemisphere), and this quite literally changes our body: When your skin is exposed to the sun’s rays (specifically UVB), these interact with a protein in the skin (7-DHC) which converts to vitamin D. When our levels of vitamin D are low this impacts our immune function and insulin production, it can also cause not-so-good changes to your bones if the level is extremely low, or low for a long time. Sunlight also helps to lift the mood by boosting the neurotransmitter (it modulates neural activity and a wide range of neuropsychological processes) serotonin. This also changes/regulates our circadian rhythm, so we may find that we sleep better during the summer.
Anyone else love being outside when everything is awake and alive?? Don’t get me wrong, because I can completely appreciate the other seasons: the “birth” of spring, the “dying” moments of fall, the “death/hibernation” of the winter- but there’s something about summer. Everything is mostly alive, buzzing, energized, and working. Birds are seeking mates (at a rapid and perhaps astounding pace, when you think about the fact that all the bird calls are sounds to attract mates), flowers are seeking a pollinator or to spread their own seeds, the soil opens up and warms for little critters like cicadas to crawl out and fly into the air (fun fact, cicadas are my favorite).
You may find that you have more energy (physically, emotionally) and can spend that sharing good times with friends and loved ones, working on big projects, or running around outdoors somewhere. This in part relates to #1, but also there’s more light within which to do more things. We’re less tired, chemically. If we think of our emotional state as seasonal, we can also identify times when we are in a “summertime” period, or “winter”, for example. Summer is usually accompanied with lots of growth and opening and connection, while winter may look introverted or reclusive. Try to honor whichever season you find yourself in today and every day.
Finally, food. Our fertile earth- when tended to- and our farmers and the pollinators who work to create the fresh food that we eat in so much abundance and variety. We can grow blueberries and strawberries and eat them right off the plant, we can grow tomatoes and eat right off the vine like I did at my Nonna’s house as a kid. Fresh salads, herbs for tea and warm dinner dishes, aren’t we so lucky to have the ability to grow our own food?
No matter how this summer looks for you, here are my recommendations:
